College Park Animal Hospital

College Park Animal Hospital
College Park Animal Hospital College Park, MD 20740
About

College Park Animal Hospital

College Park Animal Hospital is a Animal Hospital facility in College Park, MD.
Primary Specialty

Animal Hospital

Services College Park Animal Hospital practices at College Park, MD 20740.

Animal hospitals offer general and emergency pet care services. Some animal hospitals offer 24 hour emergency services-call to confirm hours and availability.

To learn more, or to make an appointment with College Park Animal Hospital in College Park, MD, please call (301) 441-2547 for more information.
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Recent Reviews
I was a client of College Park Animal Hospital (CPAH) for two years, during which I was satisfied with the care my pets received and with the manner in which the hospital staff communicated with me and my family. However, in January 2008, my old cat, Smokey, became very ill. I took him to CPAH three times and twice to the ER. CPAH missed Smokey's cardeomegaly and increased interstitial pattern (congestive heart failure) on an X-ray. As a result, Smokey deteriorated quickly without any medication for over two weeks.

Alarmed by Smokey's symptoms, I began doing reading on the Internet, which lead me to believe that Smokey might have a serious heart disease and should be treated urgently. I called CPAH, and one of the vets there agreed to put Smokey on rescue medication and refer him to a cardiologist. The medication started helping Smokey right away, but it was still necessary to take him to the ER on January 29th, where he died after a sedative was administered to him. Had the rescue medication been given when the heart condition was first apparent on the X-ray, the fateful trip to the ER may not have been necessary.

One of the veterinarians treating Smokey at CPAH admitted missing the condition; to reward her honesty, I did not file a complaint with the State Board against her. The other veterinarian, however, and the owner of the hospital (Thomas McMichael) refused to acknowledge that mistakes were made. To add insult to injury, Dr. McMichael became defensive and vindictive against me and my family. He has distorted facts, given me false medical explanations (that Smokey's type of heart disease cannot be seen on an X-ray, and that's despite the fact that three other vets saw it on the very X-ray, on which his staff vet missed it) and when I confronted him, began stonewalling. The head vet also banned me and my family from volunteering with homeless sick dogs boarded at his facility 24/7 with no outside runs (these dogs were with a rescue we volunteered for at the time; they depended on us for their walks).

As a result of my complaint, the Maryland State Board of Veterinary Medical Examiners brought charges against the vetrinarian who missed the condition on the X-ray (so much for X-rays' inability to identify this condition) for failure to conform to the standard of care, but later issued a letter of censure instead, upon consultation with the vet's medical malpractice lawyer. According to the letter I received from the Board, prior to accepting the censure this vet "participated in classes offered at a regional conference as a means of improving his ability to read radiographs and ultrasounds." The letter from the State Board also stated that a letter of censure is a matter of public record.

For more information and a tribute to our beloved Smokey, go to http://cpahclientsbeware.blogspot.com
by Anonymous
April 02, 2010